Methods and devices for cartridge authentication

ABSTRACT

A device comprises a sensor and processing circuitry coupled to the sensor. The sensor is configured to obtain authentication information from an identification label of a cartridge of an electronic vaping device. The processing circuitry is configured to perform authentication of the cartridge based on the authentication information; and determine whether to unlock a battery section of the electronic vaping device to power the cartridge based on a result of the authentication of the cartridge.

BACKGROUND Field

At least e example embodiments relate generally to electronic vaping(e-vaping) devices.

Related Art

An electronic vaping (e-vaping) device includes a cartridge portion anda battery portion. The cartridge portion attaches to the battery portionto enable vaping by an adult vaper. If a counterfeit, expired and/orunsafe cartridge is permitted to function when attached to a batteryportion, then the e-vaping device may malfunction, which may result inunwanted consequences such as damage to the e-vaping device.

SUMMARY

At east one example embodiment provides a device comprising: a sensorconfigured to obtain authentication information from an identificationlabel of a cartridge of an electronic vaping device; and processingcircuitry coupled to the sensor. The processing circuitry is configuredto perform authentication of the cartridge based on the authenticationinformation; and determine whether to unlock a battery section of theelectronic vaping device to power the cartridge based on a result of theauthentication of the cartridge.

According to at least one example embodiment, the processing circuitrymay be further configured to: detect attachment of the electronic vapingdevice to the device; and perform the authentication of the cartridge inresponse to detecting the attachment of the electronic vaping device tothe device. The identification label may be one of a barcode, a quickresponse (QR) code, a near field communication (NFC) tag and specialink. The special ink may be a magnetic ink including a magnetic inkcharacter recognition (MiCR) code. The sensor may include a MiCR reader.

The authentication information may include identification informationidentifying the cartridge; the device may further include a memorystoring reference identification information for a plurality ofcartridges; and the processing circuitry may be further configured toperform the authentication of the cartridge by determining whether theidentification information corresponds to reference identificationinformation stored in the memory, and unlock the battery section of theelectronic vaping device when the identification information correspondsto the reference identification information.

The identification label may further include a watermark, and theauthentication information may include digital information correspondingto the watermark. The processing circuitry may be further configured to:perform the authentication of the cartridge by applying a watermarkdecoding algorithm to the digital information; and unlock the batterysection when (i) the identification information corresponds to thereference identification information stored in the memory and/or (ii)application of the watermark decoding algorithm is successful.

The reference identification information corresponding to theidentification information may include an expiration date, and theprocessing circuitry may be further configured to maintain the batterysection in a locked state if the expiration date has passed.

The identification label may include a watermark, and the authenticationinformation may include digital information corresponding to thewatermark. The processing circuitry may be further configured to:perform the authentication of the cartridge by applying a watermarkdecoding algorithm to the digital information; and determine whether tounlock the battery section of the electronic vaping device to power thecartridge based on a result of application of the watermark decodingalgorithm. The processing circuitry may be further configured to unlockthe battery section if the application of the watermark decodingalgorithm is successful.

According to at least some example embodiments, the device may furtherinclude a first battery and a charger input configured to connect thedevice to an external power source. The processing circuitry may befurther configured to enable charging of a second battery in the batterysection via at least one of the first battery or the external powersource.

The device may further include a memory having computer-readableinstructions stored therein. The processing circuitry may be furtherconfigured to execute the computer-readable instructions to performauthentication of the cartridge and to control the battery section.

At least one other example embodiment provides a device comprising: atleast one slot configured to receive at least one electronic vapingdevice; at least one sensor configured to obtain authenticationinformation from an identification label of the at least one electronicvaping device, the authentication information associated with acartridge of the at least one electronic vaping device; and processingcircuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to: performauthentication of the cartridge of the at least one electronic vapingdevice based on the authentication information; and determine whether tounlock a battery section of the at least one electronic vaping device topower the cartridge based on whether the authentication of the cartridgeis successful.

The device may further include a cover element having at least onehollow section corresponding to the at least one slot. The at least onehollow section may be configured to receive a portion of the at leastone electronic vaping device that extends out of the at least one slotwhen inserted in the at least one slot. The cover element may beconfigured to be opened and closed, and to cover the at least oneelectronic vaping device when closed.

The processing circuitry may be further configured to detect insertionof the at least one electronic vaping device into the at least one slotby detecting a change in resistance at an interface associated with theat least one slot. The interface may provide an electrical connectionbetween the at least one electronic vaping device and the device.

The at least one sensor may be further configured to obtain theauthentication information in response to detecting the insertion of theat least one electronic vaping device into the at least one slot by theprocessing circuitry.

The identification label may be on the cartridge. The identificationlabel may be one of a barcode, a quick response (QR) code, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) tag and special ink. The special ink may be amagnetic ink including a magnetic ink character recognition (MiCR) code,and the at least one sensor may include a MiCR reader.

The authentication information may include identification informationfor the cartridge. The processing circuitry may be further configuredto: determine the authentication of the cartridge is successful when theidentification information corresponds to reference identificationinformation stored in a memory of the device; and unlock the batterysection when the authentication of the cartridge is successful.

The identification label may further include a watermark, and theauthentication information may further include digital informationcorresponding to the watermark. The processing circuitry may be furtherconfigured to: perform the authentication of the cartridge by applying awatermark decoding algorithm to the digital information; and determinethe authentication of the cartridge is successful if (i) theidentification information corresponds to the reference identificationinformation stored in the memory and (ii) application of the watermarkdecoding algorithm is successful.

The reference identification information corresponding to theidentification information may include an expiration date, and theprocessing circuitry may be further configured to maintain the batterysection in a locked state if the expiration date has passed.

The identification label may include a watermark, and the authenticationinformation may include digital information obtained from the watermark.The processing circuitry may be further configured to: perform theauthentication of the cartridge by applying a watermark decodingalgorithm to the digital information; and determine whether to unlockthe battery section of the at least one electronic vaping device topower the cartridge based on whether the application of the watermarkdecoding algorithm to the digital information is successful.

The device may further include: two or more slots, each of the two ormore slots configured to receive an electronic vaping device; and adivider between the two or more slots, the divider configured toseparate any two of the two or more slots. The at least one sensor andthe processing circuitry may be positioned on the divider.

The device may further include a display configured to provideinformation indicative of whether the authentication of the cartridgewas successful. The processing circuitry may be further configured todrive the display to provide the information indicative of whether theauthentication of the cartridge was successful.

The device may further include an audio output configured to provideinformation indicative of whether the authentication of the cartridgewas successful. The processing circuitry may be further configured todrive the audio output to provide the information indicative of whetherthe authentication of the cartridge was successful.

The device may further include a memory having computer-readableinstructions stored therein. The processing circuitry may be furtherconfigured to execute the computer-readable instructions to perform theauthentication of the cartridge, and to control the battery section.

The device may further include a first battery, and a charger inputconfigured to connect the device to an external power source. Theprocessing circuitry may be further configured to: determine whether asecond battery of the battery section has sufficient charge for poweringthe cartridge; and enable charging of the second battery in response todetermining that the second battery of the battery section does not havesufficient charge for powering the cartridge.

The processing circuitry may be further configured to enable thecharging of the second battery of the battery section via at least oneof the first battery and the external power source.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of example embodiments willbecome more apparent by describing, example embodiments in detail withreference to the attached drawings. The accompanying drawings areintended to depict example embodiments and should not be interpreted tolimit the intended scope of the claims. The accompanying drawings arenot to be considered as drawn to scale unless explicitly noted.

FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic vaping (e-vaping) device according toan example embodiment;

FIG. 2A illustrates an example embodiment of a personal charging casefor an electronic vaping device;

FIG. 2B illustrates an internal or cut-away view of the personalcharging case shown in FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C is a block diagram illustrating example electrical connectionsbetween various components of the personal charging case shown in FIG.2A;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment of the controller 264 of thepersonal charging case shown in FIGS. 2A-2C;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a cartridge authentication methodaccording to an example embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a methodfor enabling charging of a battery inside the battery section of anelectronic vaping device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some detailed example embodiments are disclosed herein. However,specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are merelyrepresentative for purposes of describing example embodiments. Exampleembodiments may, however, be embodied in many alternate forms and shouldnot be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein.

Accordingly, while example embodiments are capable of variousmodifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown byway of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail.It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limitexample embodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but to thecontrary, example embodiments are to cover all modifications,equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of exampleembodiments. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout thedescription of the figures.

It should be understood that when an element or layer is referred to asbeing “on,” “connected to,” “coupled to,” or “covering” another elementor layer, it may be directly on, connected to, coupled to, or coveringthe other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyon,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another elementor layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present. Likenumbers refer to like elements throughout the specification. As usedherein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one ormore of the associated listed items.

It should be understood that, although the terms first, second, third,or the like may be used herein to describe various elements, regions,layers and/or sections, these elements, regions, layers, and/or sectionsshould not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used todistinguish one element, region, layer, or section from another region,layer, or section. Thus, a first element, region, layer, or sectiondiscussed below could be termed a second element, region, layer, orsection without departing from the teachings of example embodiments.

Spatially relative terms (e.g., “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,”“upper,” and the like) may be used herein for ease of description todescribe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) orfeature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It should be understood thatthe spatially relative terms are intended to encompass differentorientations of the device in use or operation in addition to theorientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in thefigures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” otherelements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elementsor features. Thus, the term “below” may encompass both an orientation ofabove and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptorsused herein interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing variousembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exampleembodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or “comprising,” when used inthis specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers,steps, operations, and/or elements, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or groups thereof.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference tocross-sectional illustrations that are schematic illustrations ofidealized embodiments (and intermediate structures) of exampleembodiments. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations asa result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances,are to be expected. Thus, example embodiments should not be construed aslimited to the shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to includedeviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. Thus,the regions illustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and theirshapes are not intended to illustrate the actual shape of a region of adevice and are not intended to limit the scope of example embodiments.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. Itwill be further understood that terms, including those defined incommonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaningthat is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant artand will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal senseunless expressly so defined herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates an electronic vaping device according to an exampleembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electronic vaping (e-vaping) device 100 includesa replaceable cartridge 120 (which may also be referred to as acartridge, a cartridge portion, a first section, or a cartridge section)and a battery section 140 (which may also be referred to as a batteryportion, a second section, a power supply portion, or power supplysection). The battery section 140 may be reusable and/or may include areusable battery. The cartridge 120 may be any currently known, or to bedeveloped cartridge, that includes a pre-dispersion formulation (orpre-vapor formulation) to generate vapor. The cartridge 120 may furtherinclude circuitry for heating the pre-dispersion formulation to betransformed into vapor.

The battery section 140 may include, among other components (e.g.,battery level indicator, or the like), a battery for powering thecartridge 120 in the electronic vaping device 100.

In at least one example embodiment, the cartridge 120 and the batterysection 140 may be physically (mechanically and/or electrically)connected to one another. In one example, such a physical connection ismade possible via appropriate male/female connectors such as the maleconnector 150 (which may also be referred to as the first connector,first end or male end) and the female connector 160 (which may also bereferred to as the second connector, second end or female end). WhileFIG. 1 illustrates the male connector 150 as being associated with thebattery section 140 and the female connector 160 as being associatedwith the cartridge 120, example embodiments are not limited thereto. Forexample, the male connector 150 may be associated with the cartridge 120and the female connector 160 may be associated with the battery section140.

The physical connection may allow the battery section 140 to providepower to the cartridge 120 for operation of the electronic vaping device100 (e.g., drawing vapor generated by heating a pre-dispersionformulation or pre-vapor formulation through an outlet of thereplaceable cartridge 120).

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the physical connection between thecartridge 120 and the battery section 140 may be such that the maleconnector 150 at the battery section 140 is screwed into the femaleconnector 160 at the cartridge 120.

If, however, the male connector 150 is associated with the cartridge 120and the female connector 160 is associated with the battery section 140,then the physical connection between the cartridge 120 and the batterysection 140 may be such that the female connector 160 at the batterysection 140 is screwed into the male connector 150 at the cartridge 120.Although illustrated as a screw or threaded connection, the connectorsdiscussed herein may be, for example, snug-fit connectors, detentconnectors, clamp connectors, clasp connectors, or the like.

Still referring to FIG. 1, at the point of connection between thecartridge 120 and the battery section 140, there may be one or more pinsestablishing an electrical connection and/or communication betweencartridge 120 and the battery section 140.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cartridge 120 may further include anidentification label 170 on a body of the cartridge 120. Theidentification label 170 may include one or more of a barcode, a quickresponse (QR) code, a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag, a special(e.g., magnetic) ink, or any other type of identification label readableby a reader such as a laser, a MiCR reader, combination thereof, orother reading device. However, example embodiments should not be limitedto these examples. Special ink, such as magnetic ink, may include amagnetic ink character recognition (MiCR) code, which is acharacter-recognition technology that allows a MiCR reader to scan andread information directly from the mark or label created using thespecial ink. While the identification label 170 is shown as being on aparticular portion of the body of the cartridge 120 in FIG. 1, exampleembodiments are not limited thereto. Rather, the identification label170 may be at any location on the cartridge 120.

According to at least some example embodiments, the cartridgeidentification label 170 may be, or further include, a watermark, whichis invisible to the naked eye, but may be recognized using a reader(e.g., an optical reader) and a watermark decoding algorithm. If thecartridge identification label 170 is, or includes, a watermark, thenattempts to counterfeit the cartridge identification label 170 mayresult in loss of the watermark (or watermark encoding), therebyrendering the counterfeit label invalid and incapable of beingauthenticated. As is generally known, examples of watermarks may bepatterns of dots of varying sizes over a very narrow range of colortones, which are spatially arranged in a manner that the sizes, colortones and spatial arrangement together constitute the watermark. Awatermark decoding algorithm (also referred to as a reader algorithm) is“tuned” to the specific patterns of the watermark, which may be printedon the cartridge identification label 170 by a printing machine. Anyattempt to counterfeit such label, even by scanning the cartridgeidentification label 170 with a high-quality scanner, and re-printingthe label with a high-quality printer that is unaware of the uniquerecognition characteristics would introduce impurities, thereby causingthe watermark decoding algorithm to fail.

The operation of the electronic vaping device 100 and the manner inwhich the battery section 140 operates and provides power to thecartridge 120 for heating the pre-dispersion formulation in thecartridge 120 may be based on any known, or to be developed, method. Forexample, as described herein, an electronic vaping device may includeone or more of the features set forth in U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2013/0192623 to Tucker et al., filed Jan. 31, 2013, theentire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. In otherexample embodiments, the electronic vaping device may include thefeatures set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/135,930, filedApr. 22, 2016; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/135,923, filed Apr.22, 2016; and/or U.S. Pat. No. 9,289,014, issued Mar. 22, 2016, theentire contents of each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Asused herein, the term “electronic vaping device” or “e-vaping device” isinclusive of all types of electronic vaping devices, regardless of form,size or shape.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example embodiment of a personal charging case(PCC) for an electronic vaping device.

Referring to FIG. 2A, a PCC 200 includes a body element 201 (which mayhereinafter be referred to as a PCC “body”). The body 201 includes slots205 and 210. Each of the slots 205 and 210 is configured to receive oneelectronic vaping device such as the electronic vaping device 100 shownin FIG. 1. While FIG. 2A illustrates the body 201 as having two slots toreceive two electronic vaping devices (e.g., the electronic vapingdevice 100 of FIG. 1 in the slot 205 and a same or similar electronicvaping device 110 in the slot 210), example embodiments are not limitedto this example. Rather, the body 201 may include any number of slots(e.g., 1 slot, 3 slots, or the like).

The PCC 200 includes a cover element 202, which is also referred toherein as a PCC “cover”. The cover 202 includes slots 215 and 220. Eachof the slots 215 and 220 corresponds to one of the slots 205 and 210 inthe body 201. Each of the slots 215 and 220 is configured to receive aportion of an electronic vaping device that extends outside of acorresponding one of the slots 205 and 210. The portion of theelectronic vaping device 100 extending outside of the slot 205 isindicated by the reference numeral 222 (hereinafter, the extendedportion 222) and the portion of the electronic vaping device 110extending outside of the slot 210 is indicated by the reference numeral224 (hereinafter, the extended portion 224). Accordingly, each of theslots 205 and 210 in the body 201 together with a corresponding one ofthe slots 215 and 220 in the cover 202 collectively establish anenclosure in which the assembled electronic vaping device 100 or theassembled electronic vaping device 110 may be accommodated.

In at least one alternative example embodiment, instead of having slots215 and 220, the cover 202 may have an empty/hollow section inside forcovering the extended portions 222 and 224 of the electronic vapingdevices 100 and 110.

In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 2A, the cover 202 is attached tothe body 201 via a hinge 225. In this example, the cover 202rotates/pivots about the hinge 225 to allow the cover 202 to be openedand closed while remaining attached to the body 201. The cover 202completely covers an upper portion of the body 201 when the cover 202 isclosed.

According to at least one example embodiment, the body 201 and the cover202 of the PCC 200 may be made of metallic, plastic or any combinationof suitable material or materials.

Still referring to FIG. 2A, the PCC 200 further includes a divider 230separating the slots 205 and 210.

The body 201 of the PCC 200 includes a display 250 (e.g., on theexterior thereof). The display 250 may be type of known, or to bedeveloped, digital display. For example, the display 250 may be a liquidcrystal display (LCD) display, a light emitting diode (LED) display, anorganic LED (OLED) display, an electrophoretic (electronic paper(e-paper)) display, or the like. As will be described below, the display250 may display information (provide a visual output or a visualindication) regarding the PCC 200, the electronic vaping device 100and/or the electronic vaping device 110, including, but not limited to,a status of the cartridge 120 of the electronic vaping device 100 (orthat of the electronic vaping device 110), a status of the batterysection 140 of the electronic vaping device 100 (or that of theelectronic vaping device 110) and/or a status of a battery of the PCC200. The status of the cartridge 120 may correspond to, for example, theamount of pre-dispersion formulation remaining inside the cartridge 120.The status of the battery section 140 may correspond to, for example,the amount of charge remaining inside the battery of the battery section140. The status of the battery of the PCC 200 may correspond to, forexample, the amount of charge remaining inside the battery of the PCC200.

The PCC 200 also includes a speaker (audio output provider) 251. Thespeaker 251 may be any known, or to be developed, speaker capable ofoutputting audio signals (or audio indications). According to at leastsome example embodiments, various types of information regarding the PCC200 and/or the electronic vaping device 100 may be communicated byoutputting audio signals through the speaker 251. In at least oneexample embodiment, the information conveyed via the display 250 mayalso (or alternatively) be conveyed in the form of audio signals oraudio indications via the speaker 251.

FIG. 2B illustrates an internal or cut-away view of the PCC shown inFIG. 2A. In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, the two electronicvaping devices 100 and 110 are inserted into the slots 205 and 210,respectively.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the PCC 200 includes cartridge readers (e.g.,sensors) 260 and 262, a controller 264, a battery 265 (which may also bereferred to as the PCC battery 265), interfaces 266 and 268, and acharger input 270. In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, thecartridge readers 260 and 262, the controller 264 and the charger input270 are located along the divider 230 within the body 201 of the PCC200. In this example, the PCC battery 265 is located along the divider230 and in relatively close proximity to the controller 264. However,the exact positioning of the cartridge readers 260 and 262, thecontroller 264, the PCC battery 265, and the charger input 270 locatedalong the divider 230, is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 2B.

In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 2B, each of the cartridgereaders 260 and 262 is associated with a corresponding one of the slots205 and 210, and positioned to align with the position of theidentification label of the electronic vaping device inserted in thecorresponding slot. In this example, the cartridge reader 260 ispositioned to align with, and read, the identification label 170 of theelectronic vaping device 100 inserted into the slot 205, and thecartridge reader 262 is positioned to align with, and read, anidentification label 175 of the electronic vaping device 110 insertedinto the slot 210.

According to at least one other example embodiment, the PCC 200 mayinclude a single cartridge reader for reading the identification labelsof the electronic vaping devices inserted into the corresponding one ofthe slots 205 and 210. While FIG. 2B shows the electronic vaping devices100 and 110 as being inserted into the slots 205 and 210, exampleembodiments are not limited thereto and any type of electronic vapingdevice may be inserted into the slots 205 and 210.

Still referring to FIG. 2B, the cartridge readers 260 and 262 may be anyknown, or to be developed, readers capable of reading the identificationlabels 170 and 175 provided on the electronic vaping devices 100 and110, respectively. For example, the cartridge readers 260 and 262 may bea near-field communication (NFC) reader, a laser for reading a barcodeand/or a QR code, a MiCR reader, an optical reader, a combinationthereof, or the like.

The controller 264, which will be further described below with referenceto FIG. 3, may include a memory, processing circuitry (e.g., a processoror other integrated circuitry) and a transceiver. In at least oneexample embodiment, in response to receiving a reading of theidentification label 170 or the identification label 171 from thecorresponding one of the cartridge readers 260 and 262, the controller264 selectively enables (controls) the battery inside the batterysection 140 for powering the cartridge 120. This, as well as additional,functionality of the controller 264 will be further described below withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

Returning to FIG. 2B, the PCC battery 265 may be any known, or to bedeveloped, battery capable of powering the PCC 200, charging anelectronic vaping device inserted into the PCC 200 and/or being chargedwhen the PCC 200 is connected to an external power source via thecharger input 270. In at least one example embodiment, when theelectronic vaping device 100 is inserted into the slot 205 or 210, thePCC battery 265 of the PCC 200 may charge the battery section 140 of theelectronic vaping device 100 via the corresponding one of the interfaces266 and 268 (e.g., via electrical pins of the interface 266 or 268configured to establish an electric connection between the insertedelectronic vaping device 100 and the PCC 200).

The charger input 270 may be positioned at the bottom of the body 201 ofthe PCC 200. However, example embodiments are not limited thereto. Thecharger input 270 may be used for connecting the PCC 200 to an externalpower source for charging the PCC battery 265 and/or charging a battery(e.g., the battery section 140) in the electronic vaping devices 100 and110 once inserted into the PCC 200. According to at least one exampleembodiment, it is possible to charge the battery section 140 either viathe PCC battery 265 or via the external power source. According to atleast some example embodiments, the charger input 270 may be a universalserial bus (USB) connection, such as a micro USB connection, USB-Cconnection, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2B, each of the interfaces 266 and 268 may bepositioned at the bottom of the corresponding one of the slots 205 and210. Upon placement of the electronic vaping devices 100 and 110 intothe slots 205 and 210, respectively, a physical (e.g., an electricaland/or mechanical) connection may be established between the insertedelectronic vaping device (or, more specifically, between the batterysection of the inserted electronic vaping device) and the correspondinginterface via the corresponding pins, as described above. In the exampleshown in FIG. 28, the interface 266 detects a physical connectionbetween the electronic vaping device 100 and the interface 266, and theinterface 268 detects a physical connection between the electronicvaping device 110 and the interface 268.

The interfaces 266 and 268 may facilitate transfer of power from a powersource (e.g., the PCC battery 265 of the PCC 200 and/or the externalpower source connected to the charger input 270) to a battery section(e.g., the battery section 140) of the respective electronic vapingdevice 100 or 110.

In yet another example embodiment, each of the interfaces 266 and 268may include processing circuitry and at least one resistive element(collectively referred to as circuitry). In one example embodiment, thecircuitry may be utilized to generate a resistance when the electronicvaping devices 100 and/or 110 is/are inserted in, and a physicalconnection is established with, the corresponding slots 205 and/or 210.In at least one example embodiment, the circuity may be furtherconfigured to send the generated resistance to the controller 264 toindicate the established connection, and the controller 264 may detectthe established physical connection between the electronic vapingdevices 100 and/or 110 and the corresponding slots 205 and/or 210 basedon the generated resistance.

According to at least one example embodiment, and for purposes ofdetecting the above-described physical connection(s) and/or generatingthe above-described resistance, the interfaces 266 and 268 may operateas set forth in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/067,323 toHusejnovic et al., filed Mar. 11, 2016, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

Various example connections between the controller 264, the PCC battery265, the interfaces 266 and 268 as well as the charger input 270 will befurther described below with reference to FIG. 2C.

FIG. 2C is a block diagram illustrating example electrical connectionsamong various components of the PCC 200 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. Asshown in FIG. 2C, the controller 264 is connected to the PCC battery 265and the readers 260 and 262. In this example embodiment, the PCC battery265 provides power to the controller 264 for operation thereof. Asdiscussed in more detail below, the controller 264 may send commands toand/or receive identification and authentication data from one or moreof cartridge readers 260 and 262. The controller 264 is also connectedto switches 292, 294, 296, and interfaces 266 and 268. More detaileddiscussion of the controller 264 is provided later.

The PCC battery 265 is connected to interfaces 266 and 268 viacorresponding switches 292 and 294, which will be further describedbelow. Although not specifically shown in FIG. 2C, a diode may beconnected between the PCC battery 265 and the switch 292 to ensureunidirectional flow of electrical charge from the PCC battery 265 to thebattery of the battery section 140 through the interface 266 (e.g., forpurposes of charging the battery of the battery section 140). Similarly,a diode may be connected between the PCC battery 265 and the switch 294to ensure unidirectional flow of electrical charge from the PCC battery265 to the battery of the battery section 140 through the interface 268(e.g., for purposes of charging the battery of the battery section 140).

In FIG. 2C, the charger input 270 is connected to the PCC battery 265via a diode 290 and a switch 296. In the example embodiment shown inFIG. 2C, the charger input 270 is connected to the anode of the diode290 and the switch 296 is connected to the cathode of the diode 290 toensure a unidirectional flow of electrical charge from the externalpower source to the PCC battery 265 (e.g., for purposes of charging thePCC battery 265 when connected to an external power source). In thisexample embodiment, the controller 264 controls the switch 296 toselectively allow power to flow from the charger input 270 to the PCCbattery 265. In one example embodiment, the controller 264 closes theswitch 296 to allow power to flow from the charger input 270 to the PCCbattery 265.

As also shown in FIG. 2C, the charger input 270 is connected to theinterface 266 via a diode 291 and a switch 292. In the exampleembodiment shown in FIG. 2C, the charger input 270 is connected to theanode of the diode 291 and the switch 292 is connected to the cathode ofthe diode 291 to ensure a unidirectional flow of electrical charge fromthe external power source to the interface 266 (e.g., for purposes ofcharging a battery of the battery section 140 of the electronic vapingdevice 100 once inserted into the slot 105). In this example embodiment,the controller 264 controls the switch 292 to selectively allow power toflow from the PCC battery 265 and/or an external power source to theinterface 266. In one example embodiment, the controller 264 may closethe switch 292 to allow power to flow from the PCC battery 265 and/orthe external power source to the interface 266. In another example, thecontroller 264 may control the switch 292 to allow power to flow fromthe PCC battery 265 or the charger input 270 to the interface 266.

The charger input 270 is also connected to the interface 268 via a diode293 and a switch 294. The charger input 270 is connected to the anode ofthe diode 293, and the switch 294 is connected to the cathode of thediode 293 to ensure a unidirectional flow of electrical charge from theexternal power source to the interface 268 (e.g., for purposes ofcharging a battery of the battery section 140 of the electronic vapingdevice 100 once inserted into the slot 210). In this example embodiment,the controller 264 controls the switch 294 to selectively allow power toflow from the PCC battery 265 and/or an external power source to theinterface 268. In at least one example embodiment, the controller 264may close the switch 294 to allow power to flow from the PCC battery 265and/or the external power source to the interface 268. In anotherexample, the controller 264 may control the switch 294 to allow power toflow from the PCC battery 265 or the charger input 270 to the interface268.

According to at least some example embodiments, the switches 292, 294and 296 may be any well-known switch, including any suitable transistoror other electrical circuit or electromechanical structure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example embodiment of thecontroller 264 of the PCC 200 shown in FIGS. 2A-2C.

As shown in FIG. 3, the controller 264 includes processing circuitry(e.g., at least one processor) 310, a memory 320, and a transceiver 330.The processing circuitry 310, the memory 320, and the transceiver 330are communicatively coupled with one another.

The transceiver 330 may be any known, or to be developed, transceiverfor transmission and/or reception of data between the PCC 200 and aremote device. In one example embodiment, the transceiver 300 may enablethe establishment of wireless communication between the PCC 200 and theremote device, as will be described below.

In at least one example embodiment, the processing circuitry 310 mayinclude at least one processor. In this example, the processor may beany known, or to be developed, processor configured to executecomputer-readable instructions stored on the memory 320. Execution ofthe computer-readable instructions stored on the memory 320 transformsthe at least one processor into a special purpose processor for carryingout the functionality described herein (e.g., authenticating thecartridge 120, enabling, charging of the battery inside the batterysection 140, or the like).

Although discussed in some cases with regard to a processor and amemory, according to at least some example embodiments, the controller264 (or control circuitry or processing circuitry) may be (or include)hardware, firmware, hardware executing software, or any combinationthereof. For example, the controller 264 may include one or more CentralProcessing Units (CPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs),application-specific-integrated-circuits (ASICs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), or other circuitry configured as special purposemachines to perform the functions of the controller 264. Examplefunctionality of the controller 264 will be described in more detailbelow with regard to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The processing circuitry 310 may send appropriate signals/commands toother components of the PCC 200, for example, a command to the batterysection 140 to unlock the battery included therein to power thecartridge 120 in response to authentication of the cartridge 120 by theprocessing circuitry 310, or the like, as will be described below withreference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a cartridge authentication method,according to an example embodiment. While FIG. 4 will be described fromthe perspective of the controller 264, it will be understood that eachcartridge authentication process may be performed by the processingcircuitry 310 of the controller 264. Furthermore, FIG. 4 will bedescribed with reference to the electronic vaping device 100 beinginserted into the slot 205 of the PCC 200. It should be understood,however, that the process shown in FIG. 4 may be applied (e.g.,concurrently, and/or simultaneously) with regard to an electronic vapingdevice (e.g., the electronic vaping device 110) inserted into the slot210 of the PCC 200.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the electronic vaping device 100 is insertedinto the slot 205, at S400 the controller 264 detects insertion of theelectronic vaping device 100 into the slot 205 of the PCC 200. In oneexample, the battery section 140 may be in a locked state when theelectronic vaping device 100 is inserted into the slot 205. When thebattery section 140 is in the locked state, the battery inside thebattery section 140 is not permitted to power the cartridge 120, evenwhen the electronic vaping device 100 is in the slot 205 and thecartridge 120 is connected to the battery section 140.

The controller 264 may detect insertion of the electronic vaping device100 into the slot 205 of the PCC 200 based on a change in resistance atthe interface 266 (e.g., from essentially infinite resistance to afinite resistance value) resulting from attachment of the electronicvaping device 100 to the interface 266. The controller 264 may sense thechange in the resistance through connection with the interface 266.

In response to detecting the electronic vaping device 100, at S410 thecontroller 264 transmits (or sends) a command to the cartridge reader260 to read the identification label 170 of the electronic vaping device100 that has been inserted into the slot 205. In response to receivingthe command, the cartridge reader 260 reads the identification label 170of the electronic vaping device 100.

In at least one alternative example, the controller 264 need not send acommand to the cartridge reader 260 at S410. Rather, the cartridgereader 260 may automatically read the identification label 170 of theelectronic vaping device 100 when the electronic vaping device 100 isinserted in the slot 205. In one example, the cartridge reader 260 maybe an optical reader in an “always ON” state. Therefore, when theelectronic vaping device 100 is inserted into the slot 205, the opticalreader automatically reads (scans) the identification label 170 andsends the read information to the controller 264.

Returning to FIG. 4, at S420 the controller 264 receives identificationand/or authentication data (also referred to herein as identificationinformation, identification and authentication information, orauthentication information) from the cartridge reader 260. Theidentification data may be obtained from, or included in, theidentification label 170 read by the cartridge reader 260.

At S430, the controller 264 authenticates the cartridge 120 of theelectronic vaping device 100. In one example, the controller 264authenticates the cartridge 120 by comparing the identification datareceived at S420 (received identification data) with referenceidentification data stored in the memory 320 of the controller 264. Asdiscussed herein, the authentication of the cartridge 120 by thecontroller 264 may also be referred to as verification of authenticity,authentication of the cartridge, or the like.

According to at least one example embodiment, the memory 320 stores adatabase of reference identification data corresponding to authorizedcartridges. Each reference identification data may correspond to acartridge identifier (e.g., serial number) of an authorized cartridge orgroup of cartridges, which may be commercially available. An authorizedcartridge may also be referred to herein as an authentic cartridge. Thereference identification data may further include an expiration dateassociated with each authorized cartridge.

According to at least one example embodiment, the database of referenceidentification data stored on the memory 320 may be updatedperiodically. In one example, the PCC 200 may be connected (e.g., viawired or wireless connection) to a computer or a handheld device (e.g.,a mobile phone or a tablet) via the transceiver 330. In this example,the transceiver 330 transmits and receives data to and from such acomputer or handheld device.

The computer or the handheld device may have an application executedthereon. Through the application, the computer or the handheld devicemay send appropriate commands to the PCC 200 (e.g., to the receiver 300of the controller 264) to update the database of referenceidentification data stored on the memory 320.

If the identification label 170 is, or includes, a watermark, then thecartridge reader 260 converts optical information obtained from thewatermark into digital information, and sends the digital information tothe controller 264. Upon receiving the digital information obtained fromthe watermark from the cartridge reader 260, the controller 264 appliesa watermark decoding algorithm to the digital information received fromthe cartridge reader 260 to verify the authenticity of the cartridge120. The watermark and watermark decoding algorithm may be any known, orto be developed watermark and watermark decoding algorithm. An exampleof a watermark and watermark decoding algorithm that may be implementedin accordance with example embodiments is described in U.S. Pat. No.6,708,894, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein byreference.

Returning to FIG. 4, at S440 the controller 264 determines whether theauthentication of the cartridge 120 was successful. In the example inwhich the authentication of the cartridge 120 is based on identificationdata from the cartridge reader 260, the controller 264 may determinethat the authentication of the cartridge 120 was successful if thereceived identification data matches reference identification datastored in the memory 320. If the received identification data does notmatch reference identification data stored in the memory 320, then thecontroller 264 determines that the authentication of the cartridge 120was not successful (the authentication failed).

If the reference identification data further includes an expiration dateassociated with the authorized cartridge, then the controller 264 maydetermine if the cartridge 120 has expired (e.g., the expiration date,or a threshold time period after the expiration date, of the cartridge120 has passed). If the received identification data matches referenceidentification data and the cartridge 120 has not expired, then thecontroller 264 determines that the authentication of the cartridge 120was successful. However, if the received identification data matches thereference identification data, but the cartridge 120 has expired, thenthe controller 264 determines that the cartridge 120 is not authorizedand the authentication process for the cartridge 120 may still fail evenwhen the received identification data matches the referenceidentification data.

If the data received from the cartridge reader 260 is, or includes,digital information corresponding to optical information obtained from awatermark, then the controller 264 determines that the authentication ofthe cartridge 120 was successful if application of the watermarkdecoding algorithm is successful. If application of the watermarkdecoding algorithm fails, then the controller 264 determines that theauthentication of the cartridge 120 was not successful, and that thecartridge 120 is not authentic, at S430.

Returning to S440 in FIG. 4, if the controller 264 determines that thecartridge 120 is not authentic (the authentication process for thecartridge 120 has failed), then the controller 264 provides anindication that the cartridge 120 is not authentic at S450, and thecontroller 264 maintains the battery section 140 in a locked state suchthat the battery section 140 is not permitted to provide power to thecartridge 120. In this case, charging of the battery section 140 of theelectronic vaping device 100 by the PCC 200 or the external power supplyconnected thereto may also be prevented. In at least one other exampleembodiment, the battery section 140 may be maintained in a locked state,but permitted to be charged by the PCC 200 or the external power supply.

In at least one example embodiment, the controller 264 may indicate thatthe authentication process for the cartridge 120 has failed by sendingappropriate commands to instruct the display 250 and/or the speaker 251(the controller 264 may drive the display 250 and/or the speaker 251)to: output a visual indication (e.g., a continuous or blinking redlight, a written statement or text message, such as “unauthorizedcartridge,” or the like) on the display 250; provide an audio indication(e.g., a continuous or intermittent beep) via the speaker 251; or thelike. Since appropriate commands and instructions for causing thedisplay 250 and/or the speaker 251 to provide visual and/or audioindications are generally well-known, a detailed discussion is omitted.

In at least one example embodiment, the controller 264 may provide acombination of visual and audio indications to indicate that thecartridge 120 is not authentic (e.g., a combination of a continuous redlight and a continuous beep). While specific audio and visualindications (or combinations thereof) have been described above asexample ways for the controller 264 to communicate the status of theelectronic vaping device at S450, example embodiments are not limitedthereto and may encompass any other known, or to be developed, visual oraudio indications (or combinations thereof).

Returning to S440 in FIG. 4, if the controller 264 determines that thecartridge 120 is authentic (the authentication process for the cartridge120 was successful), then at S460 the controller 264 determines whetherthe battery section 140 (or a battery included in the battery section140) has sufficient charge for powering the cartridge 120. In at leastone example embodiment, the controller 264 receives information from thebattery section 140 (which may be referred to as charge or batteryinformation) indicating the remaining charge of the battery section 140.The controller 264 may receive the charge information from the batterysection 140 (e.g., from processing circuitry, e.g., a microcontroller orprocessor, of the battery section 140) when the electronic vaping device100 is inserted into the slot 205.

The controller 264 may determine that the battery section 140 hassufficient charge at S460 if the amount of charge left in the batterysection 140, as indicated by the charge information, exceeds a desired(or, alternatively, given or predetermined) threshold. In one example,the threshold may be about 10% or 20% of the total charge capacity(e.g., about 90 mAh) of the battery section 140.

If, at S460, the controller 264 determines that the battery section 140does not have sufficient charge to power the authenticated cartridge120, then at S470 the controller 264 sends appropriate commands toinstruct the display 250 and/or the speaker 251 (the controller 264 maydrive the display 250 and/or the speaker 251) to provide visual and/oraudio indications that the battery inside the battery section 140 needsto be replaced and/or recharged. The controller 264 may drive thedisplay 250 and/or the speaker 251 in the same or substantially the samemanner as discussed above with regard to S450.

At S475, the controller 264 enables charging of the battery inside thebattery section 140. An example embodiment of a process of enabling thecharging of the battery section inside the battery section 140 will befurther described with reference to FIG. 5.

Returning to S460, if the controller 264 determines that the battery inthe battery section 140 has sufficient charge to power the cartridge120, then at S480 the controller 264 sends a command to the batterysection 140 to unlock the battery section 140 (transition the battery toan unlocked state), thereby permitting the battery of the batterysection 140 to power the cartridge 120. The controller 264 may send thecommand to unlock the battery section 140 to the battery section 140 viathe interface 266. According to at least some example embodiments, thecontroller 264 may cause the battery section 140 to transition to theunlocked state using any well methodology. Because such methods arewell-known, a detailed discussion is omitted.

At S490, after unlocking the battery section 140, the controller 264 mayreceive various types of information regarding the electronic vapingdevice 100 from portions of the electronic vaping device 100. Forexample, the controller 264 may receive information from processingcircuitry (e.g., one or more microcontrollers or processors) embeddedwithin the cartridge 120 and/or the battery section 140 of theelectronic vaping device 100. The information may be transferred to thecontroller 264 via the interface 266 after the controller 264 sends acommand to the battery section 140 to unlock the battery section 140 forpowering the cartridge 120.

In one example, the information may include: a status of the cartridge120 (e.g., the amount of pre-dispersion formulation remaining in thecartridge 120); a remaining charge level of the battery section 140;maintenance and/or replacement reminders for the cartridge 120 and/orthe battery section 140; or the like.

Referring still to FIG. 4, at S495 the controller 264 may display atleast some of the information received at S490 on the display 250. Thecontroller 264 may drive the display 250 to display the receivedinformation in the same or substantially the same manner as discussedabove with regard to S450.

According to at least one example embodiment, when the cartridge 120 isauthenticated by the controller 264 after the electronic vaping, device100 is inserted into the PCC 200, the electronic vaping device 100 maybe enabled for vaping, and the electronic vaping device 100 may beremoved from the PCC 200 for vaping. In one example, the controller 264may display a green light on the display 250 to indicate that theelectronic vaping device 100 is enabled and may be removed for vaping.

In at least one example embodiment, the authentication of the cartridge120 remains valid (e.g., the battery section 140 continues to power thecartridge 120) until the battery section 140 and the cartridge 120 areseparated from one another. Thereafter, in order for the battery section140 to power the cartridge 120, the authentication process of FIG. 4 mayneed to be repeated.

An example embodiment of a method for selectively enabling charging ofthe battery inside the battery section 140 at S475 will be describedbelow with reference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example embodiment of a method of enablingcharging of a battery inside the battery section of an electronic vapingdevice. As shown in FIG. 2B, and described above, the PCC 200 mayinclude PCC battery 265, which is electrically connected to thecontroller 264 as well as the interfaces 266 and 268. As with FIG. 4,the example embodiment shown in FIG. 5 will be described with referenceto the electronic vaping device 100 being inserted into the slot 205 ofthe PCC 200. It should be understood, however, that the process shown inFIG. 5 may also be applied with regard to the electronic vaping device110 and the slot 210 of the PCC 200.

Referring to FIG. 5, at S501 the controller 264 determines whether thePCC battery 265 has sufficient charge for charging the battery of thebattery section 140 of the electronic vaping device 100. In at least oneexample embodiment, the controller 264 obtains and/or receivesinformation from the PCC battery 265 (which may be referred to as PCCcharge or battery information) indicating the remaining charge of thebattery section 140. The controller 264 may obtain and/or receive thecharge information from the PCC battery 265 in any well-known manner.

If, at S501, the controller 264 determines that the PCC battery 265 ofthe PCC 200 has sufficient power to charge the battery of the batterysection 140, then at S526 the controller 264 enables transfer of powerfrom the PCC battery 265 of the PCC 200 to the battery section 140. Inone example embodiment, the controller 264 enables the transfer of powerby closing the switch 292 between the PCC battery 265 and the interface266 (as shown in FIG. 2C), thereby electrically connecting the PCCbattery 265 and the battery section 140. In this case, the PCC battery265 charges the battery inside the battery section 140 via the interface266.

Returning to S501, if the controller 264 determines that the PCC battery265 does not have sufficient charge for charging the battery of thebattery section 140, then at S506 the controller 264 communicates thelack of sufficient charge of the PCC battery 265 by, for example,providing a visual output on the display 250 (e.g., a red light) and/oran audio output via the speaker 251 (e.g., a continuous beep). Thecontroller 264 may drive the display 250 and/or the speaker 251 in thesame or substantially the same manner as discussed above with regard toS450.

When charging of the PCC battery 265 is needed, the PCC 200 may beconnected to an external power source via the charger input 270 tocharge the PCC battery 265.

At S511, the controller 264 determines whether the PCC 200 is connectedto an external power source. In one example, the controller 264determines that the PCC 200 is connected to an external power by sensinga voltage at the charger input 270 (e.g., an increase from 0 volts to anon-zero voltage value, such as 5 volts, or the like).

If, at S511, the controller 264 determines that the PCC 200 is notconnected to an external power source, then at S516 the controller 264communicates the absence of a connection of the PCC 200 to an externalpower source, for example, to an adult vesper. In one exampleembodiment, the controller 264 communicates the absence of theconnection by providing a visual and/or audio signal through the display250 and/or the speaker 251. The visual and the audio signal may be anyone of a blinking light, a continuous light (e.g., a red light), aperiodic audio sound, a continuous sound, or the like. However, suchvisual and/or audio signal is not limited to the examples discussedherein. According to at least some example embodiments, the controller264 may drive the display 250 and/or speaker 251 in the same orsubstantially the same manner as discussed above with regard to S450 inFIG. 4.

After a delay at S517, the controller 264 then returns to S511 andrechecks whether the PCC 200 is connected to an external power supply.In at least this example, the controller 264 may periodically checkand/or detect whether the PCC 200 is connected to an external powersource. The length of the delay S517 and/or the periodicity of the checkand/or detection by the controller 264 may be an adjustable parameterdetermined based on experiments and/or empirical studies. In oneexample, length of the delay may be on the order of milliseconds orseconds. However, example embodiments are not limited to these examples.In another example, the controller 264 may remain in the WAIT state atS517 until the PCC 200 is connected to an external power source.

Returning to S511, if the controller 264 determines that the PCC 200 isconnected to an external power source, then at S521 the controller 264enables transfer of power from the external power source to the batterysection 140 (for purposes of charging the battery inside the batterysection 140) and/or the PCC battery 265. The controller 264 may enabletransfer of power from the external power source to the battery section140 through the interface 266 by enabling and/or closing the switch 292to connect the charger input 270 to the interface 266 via the diode 291and the switch 292. The controller 264 may enable transfer of power tothe PCC battery 265 by enabling and/or closing the switch 296. In atleast one example embodiment, power may be transferred to the battery ofthe battery section 140 and to the PCC battery 265 simultaneously,concurrently and/or in parallel. In yet another example, power may betransferred to the battery of the battery section 140 through the PCCbattery 265. In still another example, the power may be transferred tothe PCC battery 265 to charge the PCC battery 265 to a level sufficientto charge the battery of the batten section 140, and then the PCCbattery 265 may charge the battery of the battery section 140 asdiscussed above with regard to S526.

According to one or more example embodiments described above, theprocess of authenticating the cartridge 120, and thereafter enabling thebattery section 140 to power the cartridge 120 to enable vaping, isperformed by a controller 264 of the PCC 200 when the electronic vapingdevice 100 (the cartridge 120 and the battery section 140 connected asone piece) is inserted into the PCC 200. However, in at least oneexample embodiment, the process of authenticating the cartridge 120 maybe performed without using the PCC 200. Accordingly, the processingperformed by the controller 264 may be incorporated into at least oneprocessor (or, alternatively, microcontroller or processing circuitry)of the battery section 140. Furthermore, the cartridge reader 260 may beincorporated into the battery section 140.

According to one or more example embodiments, when the cartridge 120 isattached to the battery section 140, the cartridge reader 260 and thecontroller/microprocessor of the battery section 140 may perform theprocesses of reading the identification label 170 (e.g., theidentification label 170 may be placed/engraved at the female end 160 ofthe cartridge 120 (as shown in FIG. 1)) and authenticating the cartridge120, as described with reference to FIG. 4. In at least one exampleembodiment, doing so may suppress and/or eliminate the need for placingthe electronic vaping device (e.g., the cartridge 120 and the batterysection 140) inside a slot of a PCC, or other case, such as thatdescribed above with reference to the PCC 200.

In at least some example embodiments, the battery section 140 may berecharged wirelessly and/or via a power source using any known, or to bedeveloped methods (e.g., the battery section 140 may have a chargerinput similar to the charger input 270 of the PCC 200, shown above withreference to FIG. 28, through which the battery section 140 may beconnected to an external power supply for charging the battery insidethe battery section 140).

Although example embodiments are discussed herein with regard to a PCC,it should be understood that example embodiments may be applicable to acarrying case, which includes the reader circuitry discussed herein, hutdoes not include one or more components of a PCC. According to at leastone example embodiment, the PCC may instead be a case that includes acartridge reader for authenticating cartridges, but does not charge anelectronic vaping device.

Example embodiments having thus been described, it will be obvious thatthe same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to beregarded as a departure from the intended spirit and scope of exampleembodiments, and all such modifications as would be obvious to oneskilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: a sensor configured toobtain authentication information from an identification label of acartridge of an electronic vaping device, the electronic vaping deviceincluding the cartridge and a battery section; a device batteryconfigured to charge the battery section of the electronic vapingdevice; a memory storing reference identification information for aplurality of cartridges; processing circuitry coupled to the sensor, theprocessing circuitry configured to detect attachment of the electronicvaping device to the device, perform authentication of the cartridgebased on the authentication information and in response to detectingattachment of the electronic vaping device to the device, in response todetermining that the authentication information corresponds to a firstreference identification information stored in the memory, unlock thebattery section to power the cartridge and to charge the battery sectionof the electronic vaping device with the device battery, in response toa charge level of the device battery being greater than a thresholdlevel, enable charging of a first battery of the battery section via thedevice battery, and in response to the charge level of the devicebattery being below the threshold level and the device being connectedto an external power source, enable charging of the first battery of thebattery section and the device battery via the external power source; acharger input configured to connect the device to the external powersource; a first switch configured to selectively connect at least one of(i) the device battery to the first battery of the battery section or(ii) the external power source to the first battery of the batterysection via the charger input; and a second switch configured toselectively connect at least one of (i) the device battery to a secondbattery of a second battery section or (ii) the external power source tothe second battery of the second battery section via the charger input.2. The device of claim 1, wherein the identification label includes abarcode, a quick response (QR) code, a near field communication (NFC)tag, special ink, a sub-combination thereof, or a combination thereof.3. The device of claim 2, wherein the special ink is a magnetic inkincluding a magnetic ink character recognition (MiCR) code; and thesensor includes a MiCR reader.
 4. The device of claim 1, wherein theauthentication information includes identification informationidentifying the cartridge.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein theidentification label includes a watermark; the authenticationinformation includes digital information corresponding to the watermark;and the processing circuitry is further configured to perform theauthentication of the cartridge by applying a watermark decodingalgorithm to the digital information, and unlock the battery section inresponse to (i) determining that the authentication informationcorresponds to the first reference identification information stored inthe memory and (ii) successful application of the watermark decodingalgorithm.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein the first referenceidentification information includes an expiration date; and theprocessing circuitry is further configured to maintain the batterysection in a locked state in response to determining that the expirationdate has passed.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein the identificationlabel includes a watermark; the authentication information includesdigital information corresponding to the watermark; and the processingcircuitry is further configured to perform the authentication of thecartridge by applying a watermark decoding algorithm to the digitalinformation, and determine whether to unlock the battery section topower the cartridge based on a result of the applying the watermarkdecoding algorithm to the digital information.
 8. The device of claim 7,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to unlock thebattery section in response to successful application of the watermarkdecoding algorithm.
 9. The device of claim 1, further comprising: amemory having computer-readable instructions stored therein; and whereinthe processing circuitry is further configured to execute thecomputer-readable instructions to at least perform authentication of thecartridge and control the battery section.
 10. The device of claim 1,wherein the identification label is on an outer housing of thecartridge.
 11. A device comprising: at least one slot configured toreceive and hold at least one electronic vaping device, the at least oneelectronic vaping device including a cartridge and a battery section; atleast one sensor configured to obtain authentication information from anidentification label of the at least one electronic vaping device, theauthentication information associated with the cartridge; a devicebattery configured to charge the battery section of the at least oneelectronic vaping device; a memory storing reference identificationinformation for a plurality of cartridges; processing circuitryconfigured to detect insertion of the at least one electronic vapingdevice into the at least one slot, perform authentication of thecartridge based on the authentication information and in response todetecting insertion of the at least one electronic vaping device intothe at least one slot, in response to determining that theauthentication information from the identification label corresponds toa first reference identification information stored in the memory,unlock the battery section to power the cartridge and to charge thebattery section of the electronic vaping device with the device battery,in response to a charge level of the device battery being greater than athreshold level, enable charging of a first battery of the batterysection via the device battery, and in response to the charge level ofthe device battery being below the threshold level and the device beingconnected to an external power source, enable charging of the firstbattery of the battery section and the device battery via the externalpower source; a charger input configured to connect the device to theexternal power source; a first switch configured to selectively connectat least one of (i) the device battery to the first battery of thebattery section or (ii) the external power source to the first batteryof the battery section via the charger input; and a second switchconfigured to selectively connect at least one of (i) the device batteryto a second battery of a second battery section or (ii) the externalpower source to the second battery of the second battery section via thecharger input.
 12. The device of claim 11, further comprising: a coverelement having at least one hollow section corresponding to the at leastone slot, the at least one hollow section configured to receive aportion of the at least one electronic vaping device that extends out ofthe at least one slot when inserted in the at least one slot, the coverelement configured to be opened and closed, and to cover the at leastone electronic vaping device when closed.
 13. The device of claim 11,wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to detectinsertion of the at least one electronic vaping device into the at leastone slot by detecting a change in resistance at an interface associatedwith the at least one slot, the interface providing an electricalconnection between the at least one electronic vaping device and thedevice.
 14. The device of claim 13, wherein the at least one sensor isfurther configured to obtain the authentication information in responseto detecting insertion of the at least one electronic vaping device intothe at least one slot.
 15. The device of claim 11, wherein theidentification label is on the cartridge.
 16. The device of claim 15,wherein the identification label includes a barcode, a quick response(QR) code, a near field communication (NFC) tag, special ink, asub-combination thereof, or a combination thereof.
 17. The device ofclaim 16, wherein the special ink is a magnetic ink including a magneticink character recognition (MiCR) code; and the at least one sensorincludes a MiCR reader.
 18. The device of claim 11, wherein theauthentication information includes identification information for thecartridge.
 19. The device of claim 11, wherein the identification labelincludes a watermark; the authentication information includes digitalinformation corresponding to the watermark; and the processing circuitryis further configured to perform the authentication of the cartridge byapplying a watermark decoding algorithm to the digital information, anddetermine the authentication of the cartridge is successful in responseto (i) determining that the authentication information corresponds tothe first reference identification information stored in the memory and(ii) successful application of the watermark decoding algorithm.
 20. Thedevice of claim 11, wherein the first reference identificationinformation corresponding to the authentication information includes anexpiration date; and the processing circuitry is further configured tomaintain the battery section in a locked state in response todetermining that the expiration date has passed.
 21. The device of claim11, wherein the identification label includes a watermark; theauthentication information includes digital information obtained fromthe watermark; and the processing circuitry is further configured toperform the authentication of the cartridge by applying a watermarkdecoding algorithm to the digital information, and determine whether tounlock the battery section to power the cartridge based on whether theapplying the watermark decoding algorithm to the digital information issuccessful.
 22. The device of claim 11, further comprising: two or moreslots, each of the two or more slots configured to receive an electronicvaping device; and a divider between the two or more slots, the dividerconfigured to separate any two of the two or more slots; wherein the atleast one sensor and the processing circuitry are positioned on thedivider.
 23. The device of claim 11, further comprising: a displayconfigured to provide information indicative of whether theauthentication of the cartridge was successful; wherein the processingcircuitry is further configured to drive the display to provide theinformation indicative of whether the authentication of the cartridgewas successful.
 24. The device of claim 11, further comprising: an audiooutput configured to provide information indicative of whether theauthentication of the cartridge was successful; wherein the processingcircuitry is configured to drive the audio output to provide theinformation indicative of whether the authentication of the cartridgewas successful.
 25. The device of claim 11, further comprising: a memoryhaving computer-readable instructions stored therein; wherein theprocessing circuitry is configured to execute the computer-readableinstructions to at least perform the authentication of the cartridge andcontrol the battery section.
 26. The device of claim 11, wherein theprocessing circuitry is further configured to determine whether thefirst battery of the battery section has sufficient charge for poweringthe cartridge; and enable charging of the first battery of the batterysection in response to determining that the first battery of the batterysection does not have sufficient charge for powering the cartridge. 27.The device of claim 11, wherein the identification label is on an outerhousing of the cartridge.